FREAKS AND GEEKS Series Retrospective: Episodes 15, 16, 17, 18
April 6, 2014, 3:00 P.M.
Norris Cinema Theatre/Frank Sinatra Hall, 3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
The USC School of Cinematic Arts and Visions and Voices: The USC Arts & Humanities Initiative invite all USC Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni to attend
Freaks and Geeks Series Retrospective:
Episodes 15, 16, 17, 18
Jake Kasdan, Samm Levine, Bob Nickman,
and Martin Starr
There will be a 30 minute intermission between the Episodes 17 & 18, during which refreshments will be served in Queens Courtyard.
The RSVP list for this event will begin accepting reservations at 12:00 P.M. on Thursday, March 13.
About the Episodes
Episode 15: Noshing and Moshing
Neal wrestles with the dilemma of whether to tell his mother about his father's affair. Lindsay is given detention after coming to the aid of a girl being attacked by a boy. The Schweibers hold a party. Lindsay becomes attracted to Neal's older brother Barry, who is home from college. Daniel deals with pressures at home and with Kim. He escapes from his problems through punk music.
Directed by Jake Kasdan. Written by Paul Feig and J. Elvis Weinstein.
Running time: 45 minutes.
Episode 16: Smooching and Mooching
After fighting with his father, Nick moves out and to Lindsay's surprise begins staying with the Weirs. Cindy tells Bill that she has a crush on Sam. She asks Bill to convince Sam to invite her to a party.
Directed by Jake Kasdan. Written by Paul Feig and Steve Bannos.
Running time: 45 minutes.
Episode 17: The Little Things
Sam discovers that life as Cindy's boyfriend is not nearly as exciting as he had imagined. Ken's girlfriend, Amy, confesses a shocking secret, putting Ken in an awkward situation. Sam and Ken both ponder what to do about their relationships. Lindsay struggles with asking Vice President George Bush a question during an assembly.
Directed by Jake Kasdan. Written by Paul Feig, Jon Kasdan, Judd Apatow, and Mike White. Running time: 45 minutes.
Episode 18: Discos and Dragons
Daniel is sentenced to audio/visual class as punishment for attempting to pull the fire alarm to get out of taking a test. Lindsay is accepted to a two-week academic summit, but isn't excited and isn't sure about going. Nick has a new girlfriend and takes up disco dancing.
Written and Directed by Paul Feig.
Running time: 45 minutes.
About the Guests
DAVE (GRUBER) ALLEN (Actor, "Mr. Rosso")
[WEB ED. NOTE: Mr. Allen thoughtfully sent along this bio for inclusion on the website.]
From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references.
Dave (Gruber) Allen is a long-haired, bearded guy perhaps best known for his TV and film roles as a long-haired, bearded guy. His TV appearances run the gamut from A to G (from ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT to GILMORE GIRLS) and Gruber is sure to top most people's "Who's He?" list of people you may have seen somewhere, but don't really know for sure where exactly. Do you enjoy flute-playing and fondue? Gruber enjoyed both as "Fondue Restaurant Patron" in the film ANCHORMAN. Are you a dead-beat stepfather? Gruber sure was to a then-young Seth Rogen in FUNNY PEOPLE [DVD extras only]. More recently Gruber rocked-out with J. Elvis Weinstein (writer, FREAKS AND GEEKS) in the Jake Kasdan film BAD TEACHER with a relatively unknown Justin Timberlake. After appearing with Gruber and J. Elvis, Mr. Timberlake's career seems to be going places. [Citation needed]. Also, in addition to appearing older than he really is in VERONICA MARS, Gruber was ranked "Highest in Ladies' Satisfaction (Midwest Region)" by J.D. Powers and Associates for the past 25 years. [Additional Verification Needed].
JAKE KASDAN (Director, Consulting Producer)
Jake Kasdan made his feature film debut in 1998 as writer and director of Zero Effect, starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller. The following year, he directed the pilot episode for the short-lived, highly acclaimed television series Freaks and Geeks, on which he also served as a producer. He later directed the pilot for the series Undeclared.
Returning to features in 2002, Kasdan directed Orange County, starring Colin Hanks and Jack Black. He then wrote, directed and produced the independent feature The TV Set, starring David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver, followed by Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, co-written by and co-produced with Judd Apatow, and starring John C. Reilly, and directed the feature Bad Teacher, starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake.
Kasdan returned to television in 2011, directing the pilot episode of New Girl, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award, and the pilot episode of the comedy Ben and Kate, on which he also served as an executive producer. Kasdan most recently directed the feature Sex Tape, starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, to be released this July.
SAMM LEVINE (Actor, "Neal Schweiber")
Samm Levine's first breakout role was as a member of the "geek" half of the short lived cult hit, Freaks and Geeks (1999). The following year, he rejoined Freaks and Geeks producer, Judd Apatow, for another widely praised coming of age series, Undeclared (2001). That same year, Samm made his feature debut in the raucous teen spoof, Not Another Teen Movie (2001).
Since then, he has appeared in over 60 films and television shows, including the Oscar winning Quentin Tarantino epic, Inglourious Basterds (2009), and in many memorable roles on beloved programs such as Entourage (2004), Modern Family (2009), NCIS (2003) and How I Met Your Mother (2005). In addition to his growing catalog of television appearances, Samm is also known for roles in many cult features, including the Broken Lizard comedy, Club Dread (2004), the sci-fi thriller, Pulse (2006), and acclaimed indie comedies, Drones (2010) and IFC's Made for Each Other (2009)
Samm has also served as co-host and producer to Kevin Pollak's renowned celebrity talk show, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (2009), since its inception in 2009 - a role he came into after his interview as a guest on the first episode.
BOB NICKMAN (Supervising Producer, Writer)
Bob Nickman is primarily known for his writing and producing work numerous popular television series. His earlier credits include his work as a Co-Producer, Executive Story Editor, and Staff Writer on ROSEANNE, as a Co-Producer on ABC/Warner Brothers’ THE DREW CAREY SHOW, and as a Supervising Producer on FREAKS & GEEKS. Later, he would work on other TV shows as a Consulting Producer, on programs such as RITA ROCKS, and as an Executive Producer and Co-Executive Producer, on shows such as ABC/Touchstone’s ACCORDING TO JIM. Bob’s producing credits also include television series such as DANNY, MIND OF A MARRIED MAN, NORMAL, OHIO, and MAD ABOUT YOU, to name a few. In addition, Bob has worked as a writer on Pilots for FBC/Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, NBC/Lionsgate, and ABC Family, among others.
MARTIN STARR (Actor, "Bill Haverchuck")
Opposite Seth Rogan, Aziz Ansari and James Franco in THIS IS THE END. Well known for his roles in the cult classic series FREAKS AND GEEKS, PARTY DOWN and VERONICA MARS. Film roles include ADVENTURELAND, KNOCKED UP, SUPERBAD, WALK HARD, INCREDIBLE HULK and TRUTH ABOUT LYING. Martin can currently be seen as a series regular on the Mike Judge HBO show, SILCON VALLEY, and the Adult Swim series NTSF. Martin can also be seen in his recurring roles on SHIELD, COMMUNITY, PARKS AND RECREATION, HAWAII FIVE-O and NEW GIRL. Recent film roles include his starring role in the Samuel Goldwyn feature A GOOD OLD FASHION ORGY followed by his lead roles in Sundance darling SAVE THE DATE and LAWLESS. 2012 Development deal at ABC to write, produce and star in his own project. 2011 Development deal at CBS.
About the Moderator
ALESSANDRO AGO is the Director of Programming and Special Projects at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he programs film screenings, festivals, guest speakers and special events. In addition to programming the popular undergraduate courses Theatrical Film Symposium, taught by Leonard Maltin, and Television Symposium, taught by Howard Rosenberg, Ago also curates Outside the Box [Office], a screening series dedicated to bringing new international, documentary and independent cinema to USC. During a typical semester, Outside the Box [Office] offers over 50 new pre-release movies to students, faculty and alumni, often followed by conversations with the filmmakers, which Ago moderates. He oversees all Deans Council Visions and Voices programming for the School of Cinematic Arts and has produced festivals celebrating the work of John Wayne, Roger Corman, Costa Gavras, Maurice Jarre, Albert Broccoli and the James Bond franchise, as well as world cinema showcases focusing on Japan, Italy, Bollywood and the Middle East and an ongoing series of Live in HD satellite broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 2013, Ago produced a complete series retrospective of the landmark 1990 ABC TV drama Twin Peaks, featuring panel discussions with 50 cast & crew members from across the production.
Also in 2013, Ago taught a course called Italian Genre Cinema and Society for the Italian Department at USC, and has taught two undergraduate courses for the SCA Summer Program: Transnational Nightmares and Filmmaking, Italian Style. He co-produced the 2006 & 2007 editions of Los Angeles - Italia: The Film, Fashion and Art Fest at Mann's Chinese 6-plex, as well as the 2006 Capri - Hollywood Film Festival in Capri, Italy. He also worked for the Sundance Institute as a screener in the International Documentary Feature department, helping to select films for competition for the Sundance Film Festival.
Both an Italian and American citizen, he grew up in Washington D.C. and Rome, Italy. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts' Critical Studies division.
About the USC Freaks and Geeks Retrospective
Over the course of the Spring 2014 semester, the USC School of Cinematic Arts will host a complete series retrospective of the NBC cult comedy series, Freaks and Geeks, created by SCA Alumnus Paul Feig, and Executive Produced by SCA Alumnus Judd Apatow. Each week, episodes of the series will be followed by in-depth Q&As with key cast & crew from the production.
The complete series will be screened across 4 Sunday afternoons from January through April 2014, with the following order (start times & running times vary):
Sunday, January 26th, 2014: Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4
Sunday, February 23rd, 2014 at 2:00 PM: Episodes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Sunday, March 30th, 2014 at 2:00 PM: Episodes 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Sunday, April 6th, 2014 at 3:00 PM: Episodes 15, 16, 17, 18
Check-In & Reservations
This screening is free of charge and open to the public. Please bring a valid USC ID or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 2:30 P.M.
All SCA screenings are OVERBOOKED to ensure seating capacity in the theater, therefore seating is not guaranteed based on RSVPs. The RSVP list will be checked in on a first-come, first-served basis until the theater is full. Once the theater has reached capacity, we will no longer be able to admit guests, regardless of RSVP status.
Parking
The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $10.00 at USC Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & McClintock Avenue. We recommend parking in Parking Structure D, at the far end of 34th Street. Please note that Parking Structure D cannot accommodate tall vehicles such as SUVs. Free street parking is also available along Jefferson Blvd.
About Visions and Voices: The USC Arts & Humanities Initiative
Visions and Voices is a university-wide arts and humanities initiative that is unparalleled in higher education. The initiative was established by USC President C. L. Max Nikias during his tenure as provost in order to fulfill the goals set forth in USC's strategic plan; to communicate USC's core values to students; and to affirm the human spirit. Emphasizing the university's commitment to interdisciplinary approaches, the initiative features a spectacular array of events conceived and organized by faculty and schools throughout the university. The series includes theatrical productions, music and dance performances, conferences, lectures, film screenings and many other special events both on and off campus. Each program invites students to dialogue and interact with artists, writers, professors and special guests. These interactions provide a dynamic experience of the arts and humanities and encourage active exploration of USC's core values, including freedom of inquiry and expression, team spirit, appreciation of diversity, commitment to serving one's community, entrepreneurial spirit, informed risk-taking, ethical conduct and the search for truth.
For more information, visit www.usc.edu/visionsandvoices
Produced by Alessandro Ago for the USC School of Cinematic Arts
Contact Information
Name: Alessandro Ago
Email: aago@cinema.usc.edu